Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The end is nigh

Here's the cover to the penultimate issue of The Dandy, in the shops today. This is the last regular-sized issue, as next week the comic ends its record-breaking 75 year run with a 100 page special. (But more on that another day.)

This issue wraps up a number of strips and, curiously, features several Christmas-themed strips. (Presumably because there won't be a Christmas Dandy on the shelves this year.) Andy Fanton's Secret Agent Sir draws to a close and there are strips and features by Stu Munro, Alexander Matthews, Jamie Smart, Wayne Thompson, Nigel Auchterlounie and more. All funny stuff!

The cover is once again a classic piece of Charlie Grigg artwork. This time it's taken from The Dandy Book 1987, Charlie's last annual cover.

Don't miss The Dandy No.3609. Out now at £1.99 - and prepare to shed tears of sadness and laughter with the big final edition next week.

20 comments:

Newsagents aren't always sent the quantities they order from their supplier unfortunately.

It's in short supply around here too, but I notice the few that are distributed sell out within a few days. But the way the system works is that WH Smith (for example) only order the quantity they sold the previous week. Therefore it's impossible for new readers to jump on board, and if a regular reader skips one, he'll miss out next time too.

I hear the circulation for next week's grand finalé is 50,000. Let's hope they are actually circulated to the shops!

Wow, I hope there won't be 42,000 unsold copies then.... didn't the first revamp issue in 2010 have a similar print run? My local shops still had most of them come Tuesday, the day before the next issue came out. Needless to say, their orders soon decreased and some places stopped selling them.

I still cant belive its happening. I know that circulation is low - around 7000 - 8000, but surely that is still healthy enough to maintain the current format? At the very least perhaps DCT should offer both print and cbr/pdf formats similar to 2000AD. A shame.

@Andy, I think it's things like distribution and retail charges that eat into profits when sales are that low. Another good reason they're switching to digital I guess. That said, it would be nice if they could still do a print version, printed digitally like a small press comic, even if it meant you still had to subscribe to the digital edition. But DCT are a major publisher and it might not be worth their time to do that.

@Fred, the issue number has been on page three for quite a while now in numbers an inch high. You'll kick yourself when you notice it. :-)

I'm not sure if it's true, but I read in that in the 70's if a Fleetway comics sales fell below 500,000 then the title was dropped. Imagine a comic selling that many today! The Dandy's 8000 is disappointing, if only Thomson could have lifted up the sales before ending it!

And yes it would be nice if you could still get printed versions, even if it did mean subscribing to the digital one too. (that said, the digi-Dandy appears to be an interactive comic, which obviously wouldn't be possible on paper).

The cover to this week's issue is very fitting since it shows Desperate Dan and Korky (both having appeared in the very first issue) racing toward the finish line.

Buying this issue was a bit of a problem, as only WH Smith seem to be selling it these days in my neck of the woods. The large Tesco Extra store nearby cancelled its order just a couple of weeks after DCT announced that the Dandy would shortly be terminating! I'll probably have to camp out overnight in order to get the final edition!!

My local Tesco also stopped stocking The Dandy recently. A bit odd, considering they used to sell out. My Smiths have it, but put it on the top shelf and hide it behind other comics (as their shelving display is too narrow to accommodate all comics published).

Yes, it will certainly be strange and sad not to be able to buy The Dandy off the shelf again after next week.

A few tidbits are out. Despite being in the Beano, Bananaman will be included. And an oldie is back. If you want to know who, read the thread linked to below. It also mentions pricing details. Doesn't answer Ronnie's question about the platform though.http://comicsuk.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5278

There are bits of info on various blogs about the digital edition but I haven't heard much personally. I've been invited to the press launch on Monday, but can't make it. I'm sure some other bloggers will reveal all on Monday night when they get back from that. Sounds intriguing anyway!

About Me

I work as a full time professional humour comics artist and writer and have been freelancing full time since 1984, creating many characters such as TOM THUG, PETE AND HIS PIMPLE, COMBAT COLIN, BRICKMAN, ROBO-CAPERS, DEREK THE TROLL, SUBURBAN SATANISTS and others.
I've freelanced for IPC, Marvel Comics, Egmont, Panini,D.C. Thomson, and many others, covering the comics field from originated characters to licensed properties, pre-school to adult on comics such as BUSTER, OINK!, BEANO, DANDY, TRANSFORMERS, SONIC THE COMIC, TOXIC, VIZ, CiTV TELLYTOTS, LEGO ADVENTURES, HERMAN HEDNING, SWEET FA, ACTION FORCE, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, RAMPAGE, LUCKY BAG COMIC, SWIFTSURE, WARLOCK, WHITE DWARF, ACES WEEKLY, THE DAREDEVILS, THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL, and many more.
My recent comics work has included:'Team Toxic' for Egmont's TOXIC magazine'Postman Prat', 'Kid Cops' and 'The Dark Newt' for THE DANDY'Rasher', 'Doctor Flu', 'Celebs on a Sledge', 'Rubbish Robots', 'Lord Snooty' and 'Ivy the Terrible' for THE BEANO.
'Felix and His Amazing Underpants', 'Pathetic Sharks' and 'Suicidal Syd' for adult comic VIZ. 'The Daft Dimension' for DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE.

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About this blog:

Established in 2006, BLIMEY! is a blog that looks back at classic British comics and sometimes reports on current and upcoming titles. The images of comics are all scanned from my own collection or, in the case of some current issues, are promotional images sent to me by the publishers. I do not support 'piracy' and unlike some I do not use images from dodgy illegal comic scan DVDs. On the rare occasion I might use an image from elsewhere I always credit the source, and I would hope that if anyone takes images from my blog for use on their own sites they will show me the same courtesy. (It's only good manners after all.) Images are copyright their respective publishers and are only used here for review purposes.

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